11/28/2007

Have you ever wondered what a pallet-load of pencils looks like? This picture is your answer. Have you ever wondered what a pallet-load of pencils being delivered to a chagrined media mogul looks like? You'll find out soon!

The Pencils2MediaMoguls campaign is moving forward. And I'm happy to report that Miles Millar and Al Gough, the showrunners of "Smallville," have announced a fun incentive for those of you who haven't joined in. This email was sent out to "Smallville" fans this morning:

So, Miles and I were sitting around the other day (which is what writers do when they can't write and their picketing shift if over) wondering what we can do to kick this Pencils2Moguls campaign up a notch. Don't get me wrong, we are stoked by the response so far, but we felt there must be something we can do to really light a fire under it going into the holidays.

Then the answer hit us -- the greatest criminal mind of our time -- Lex Luthor.

We will give the gift of Lex.

Well, not really since he is, after all, a fictional character, but we do have Michael Rosenbaum, one of the best young actors of our time (in our humble opinion). We thought, why not offer a challenge to some of these other shows who have devoted fanbases (that's right Battlestar and Buffy I'm talking to you!) and see whose fans can really deliver the goods (in this case, pencils).

So here is the skinny:

For every box of environmentally friendly pencils you buy at Unitedhollywood.com, your name will be entered into an e-raffle. We will then pick a winner at random and they will receive at phone call from Michael Rosenbaum thanking them for their support of both the cause and the show.

That is right, Lex Luthor will call you directly! Make sure you list SMALLVILLE as the show you are supporting when you click on the icon.

So, Craig, please spread the word far and wide.....and thank you all for your continued support and good wishes. We are all in this together.

Best,

Al Gough

Now, if the gift of Lex isn't enough to motivate you, perhaps you'll take the advice of Jane Espenson:

First off, I just had a new idea for the pencils campaign -- when you put down what show or writer you support? Put your own name down. After all, you're the generation of writers who are going to benefit from this. It makes perfect sense. Go 'head. Support yourself; that's what you're really doing anyway.

And I think this applies not only to the future generation of writers, but to the future generation of actors, directors, set dressers, location scouts, caterers, costume designers, grips, everyone. The companies' unfair and greedy proposals threaten ALL of us in the industry. Let's send that message loud and clear.

now if you had said JENSEN ACKLES OR JARED PADALECKI i might bite. please talk to eric KRIPKE is over there tell him about this shindig so he can get the Winchester boys involved, you'd be surprise of the response you'd get

now if you had said JENSEN ACKLES OR JARED PADALECKI i might bite. please talk to eric KRIPKE is over there tell him about this shindig so he can get the Winchester boys involved, you'd be surprise of the response you'd get

now if you had said JENSEN ACKLES OR JARED PADALECKI i might bite. please talk to eric KRIPKE is over there tell him about this shindig so he can get the Winchester boys involved, you'd be surprise of the response you'd get

I'm a HUGE fan os Smallville but this is just stupid. How bout instead of buying pencils and causing workers to be late for work these damn writers get it over with. I'm sick of this and every other publicity stunt they are pulling.

Think about the crews, the craft shop owners, basically think of anyone else but your white collar, rich ass selves and get back to work. If these talks this week come out without a deal I will take it upon myself to make YouTube videos featuring every out of work grip, electric, etc. I can find. You may have the millionaire actors on your side but trust me if America was able to see the average families being put out of work by this greed, they would flip on you faster than you can ship any stupid box of pencils.

To clarify--I've been participating already in support of Supernatural, and encouraging my friends to do so, but a little added incentive is always nice. (And skyfleur, I'm a Jensen girl too, but Jared's not a bad consolation prize.)

I support the writers 100% and I think the AMPTP trolls here are pathetically transparent.

But.

I think the Pencils2MediaMoguls campaign is being executed wrong. While delivering a pallet-load of pencils may be impressive because it's a large delivery, I think grouping all those individual supporters' pencils together diminishes their impact. I think each pencil, delivered individually in its own envelope, with its own postage and its own label and its own singular symbol of one person's support ... I think that would be truly impressive.

Think of the impact in the mailrooms. Think of how much space they'd take up, how much manpower processing them would eat up, how much dismay that would cause, to have a flood of individually-mailed pencils coming in day after day after day.

I think that would have some real impact, far more so than a nice neat box of 1,000 pencils from 1,000 supporters that can easily be carted away on a dolly.

i'm sure many of us would donate again if we knew that say D day is going to be say next wednesday, if we knew it was going to be the only D day. otherwise im sure many of us are sitting here, waiting for the first delivery to roll out before we donate again.

some more info would be really good. i understand not wanting to give out an actual delivery date, we want to try to make sure the moguls are in the building apon delivery, but letting us all know what the main plan is, would be rather nice.

My CC is ready and willing to place anther order, but i just need to know when.

Laura b ''i'm sure many of us would donate again if we knew that say D day is going to be say next wednesday, if we knew it was going to be the only D day. otherwise im sure many of us are sitting here, waiting for the first delivery to roll out before we donate again.'

When you tslk about contributing again and D Day I think you are missing the point. People contribute because it is the right thing to do. I personally think that post after post of single pencils has a much bigger effect than as pallet load.

But I wouldn't criticize the WGA for encouraging it.

Fans have ressurected shows like Jericho and Family Guy. Fan power works.

Any idea as to whether or not the winner could transfer the prize to the Make-A-Wish foundation or a similar organization? It'd be another great way to increase awareness about the strike and please a youngling or two.

One of the great thing about the Jericho nuts campaign was that contributors got to see how their contribution helped the counts grow. The pencil count hasn't increased in 2 days. Makes people think it has stalled and why bother.

i'd rather get a call from Mariska Hargitay or Diane Neal or any of the main characters from SVU given i'm a tad obssessed with LO SVU!

I think its a great idea these pencil buying campains...how I wish I could be there when they deliver these...hey you think you could ask one of the delivery truck people to tape it and you all could put it on youtube so I could see it and pass it on to my friends??

BTW, there are some major die-hard SVU fans on facebook who would kill for such a phone call from Mariska, Chirs, Diane or Stephanie (just so you know), so you all might should look to doin that or at least talkin to one of them about the idea...hey wouldn't hurt to at least ask. (-:

english dave: it's not that i dont support the cause. i've ordered many boxes of pencils, donated to the food for thought F4W campaign, and the actor support fund. i even bought a t-shirt, emailed every one i knew about the campaign etc etc.

the point i'm making is that, this was lamost advertised to be a similar style campaign as the jericho nuts campaig, which i also donated to. the Jericho campaign delivered nuts day after day for well over 2 weeks. people wanted to see big deliveries each time, so they donated multiple times. they set goals, and people reached for their CC again to try and reach that goal. it was exciting.

what we have here, is a campaign, where the people contributing have no real idea what's going on.

i know it takes someone's time to update the count.

but if these guys want us to make this massive, they need to give us more than the chance to meet michael rosenbaum (which is no good to me here in OZ). make it competitive. split the pencil counts into fandoms. we'll keep buying just to try and be the biggest fandom donation. tell us if it's going to be a one off delivery or many. and maybe those numbers will start rolling upwards again.

don't get me wrong. i fully support this cause, because it's standing up to the man, who have tried to tell us what we want and need for soo many years, but i'm not putting any more money on the line without a little more news on whats going on. the campaigns been running for what? almost 2 weeks now? and the first word we hear is now, with a single picture of a pallet of what we presume is pencils.

anonymous 7:14 you said what i didn't want to. i didn't want to sound like i was ungrateful for them organising this campaign, but yes, the fans have pretty much been left out of the loop. i mean if you were into making up conspiracy theories, for all we know, those are empty boxes, and our money has gone to making more strike placards or given to producing a living clone of counter who can do the WGA's bidding.

oh and for that matter... i'm sure all these guys would have to do is ask, and they shalt recieve.. a programmer who can whip up some counter that updates automatically so you can see your donation bump the number up.. or to tally by show.

I think this would work better as a challenge issued from one fandom to another. A challenge from the showrunners-- essentially challenging us to compete with another in support of you, whom we are supporting already-- doesn't have the same weight to it. Or the same message, really. In fact, supportive as I am of this strike and the efforts to support it, the idea makes me a little nervous. This may backfire.

And seriously, keeping the count up to date is essential for this to work. The fan campaigns that have worked in the past kept the line of communication clear and open. If we don't know what's going on, the momentum for this particular project will fizzle out. We see the results of the pizza deliveries, and that keeps it real. Convincing people to give money to increase a 3-day-old number is harder.

And, finally, if fandoms are to feel competitive, we will need to see the statistics by show. And that's a definite problem when we can enter whatever we want in the box right now. (Although I do like that, myself.) But we Buffy fans will need to see just how many pencils in the lead we are, to keep this interesting.

You're doing a great job with the videos and blogging and everything, and we fans really feel the love in response to our efforts. Leave the friendly competition to us though.

As fans we want to do something dramatic that will help the writers but pencils will likely go straight to the trash rather than be recycled or donated a financially-strapped public school. At 12 pencils per box, people have spent (as of this writing) $28, 047.00 --- 1 million pencils translates to $83,333.00 -- for expendable pencils. Donations to a charity in the name of the WGA are a way to garner positive media coverage which expresses your support for the WGA while making a lasting contribution to another cause you care about.

Contribute to a cause then send postcards to the studios -- with copies to the media -- stating "I've made a donation to ____ in the name of the WGA. We're doing the write thing, why don't you?"

Here are a few possibilities, but just choose something you care about.

- a "Habitat for Humanity" construction project would be a great way to provide housing for a needy person and lends to the issue of long term financial stability. (http://www.habitatla.org/habitat.asp)

- sponsor a reading project for kids to address the critical need for reading skills -- would not only help in terms of literacy but also lend to the writers-consumers angle. (http://www.knbc.com/thequills/9419909/detail.html)

- St Jude's Children's Research Hospital has established ties with celebrities who are also empathetic to WGA's cause. These existing relationships can provide media support to St. Jude's while showcasing WGA/celebrity efforts in their regard.

who would attend a WGA sponsored event and , surely this be levered as a fund raiser for the hospital in partnership with WGA. (http://www.tg.stjude.org/celebrityfriends.shtml)

This is a way to make a lasting impact for both the WGA members and sympathizers while helping others in need. Please consider the notion.

Why would a Buffy or Battlestar fan give a rat's ass if they got a call from a Smallville actor? Get Allison Hannigan or Katee Sackoff to call them. Thats like having a competition where if the vegans beat the carnivores they get a case of chiken breasts. Stupid

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